Dark Chronicles
by FREAKSHOW1
Summary: Brief exposition of various KOTOR 2 DS moments. May expand to include cut content. Chapter Ten up! Yayness!
1. Master of the Palace

Ilza felt the wave of pain and shock through the Force as her silver blade pierced Kavar's heart. The Niman form she had learned from the dearly departed Master Ell had proven quite effective against her former teacher. Kavar fell to his knees as she retracted the lightsaber from his chest. Tired of these games, she brought her shorter emerald blade up, and in one motion, the famous Jedi Guardian was no more.

She took a moment to gaze upon her old mentor's body, gathering up his blue lightsbaers from the floor.

Mandalore and Kreia, finishing off the remainder of the royalist troops, returned to her side, and Ilza turned her attention to the throne.

Vaklu and Talia were facing off, the clanging of vibroblades filling the air. But Queen Talia was deceptively talented, and Vaklu was at a severe disadvantage.

"Blast, you've improved," Vaklu muttered, "but you skill with the blade won't save you from my men. Goodbye Talia!" Vaklu signaled his troops, and they raised their blaster rifles.

Ilza was having none of it. With graceful application of the Force, she leaped through the air, closing the distance almost immediatly. By the time her feet touched the floor, the rifles had been ripped from the troopers' hands.

Vaklu was incensed. "Just _what_ do think you're doing, Jedi?"

Ilza didn't even bother to look at the man as her sabers ignted. "I'm saving you the trouble, _General_." She made sure to sound just menacing enough to get him to back off.

Talia, defiant to the last, charged Ilza, her double-bladed sword at the ready. Ilza was slightly taken aback at the unexpected ferocity the young soverign threw her way. She had to admit that the younger woman was skilled. But she was no Jedi, and the fight was quickly in Ilza's favor.

Using her off hand, she held Talia's blade at bay, and hammered down on the woman's hilt with her other saber. The sword was wrenched from Talia's grasp. Spinning quickly, Ilza brought her silver lightsaber smoothly across Talia's chest. The woman collapsed at Ilza's feet, the hatred frozen onto her face.

The surviving Vaklu troops let out a cheer, and Vaklu himself offered his hearty thanks. Largely ignoring his words, Ilza collected the Queen's sword as a trophy. She looked at her shoulder, where Talia had manged to land a blow. There wasn't much blood, but it gave her pause to consider her opponent. It was not a fight she would soon forget.

Within the hour, they crew was back at the Ebon Hawk. All that remained was Korriban, and Master Vash. Though there was an ominous feeling in her stomach, she shoved it away. Kavar was dead, and now was a time to celebrate.


	2. Traces to Ashes

The discipline room in the Sith Academy was everything Ilza had expected. It was, like the rest of the old temple, dark, wet, and it smelled like a sewer. What she hadn't been expecting was the corpse in the cage.

"Ah, yes. I felt this Jedi's death shortly after we arrived on Korriban." Visas said as Ilza approached the body.

"Vash..." Ilza spoke softly, examining the corpse, "I might have killed her myself. She was one of the first on the council to turn on me."

Reaching through the bars of the cage, Ilza collected the datapad clutched in Vash's hands. With a glance at it's contents, she set it aside. Vash's lightsaber was on the table. Stashing it in her robes, she made her way to the computer station, opening the door as descibed in Vash's final message.

"Thanks for the help, Master," she said sardonically as she, Visas, and Mira left the discipline room.

Their escape was cut short, however, with the sudden appearence of the same scarred man from Peragus.

"Jedi..." His gravelly voice made Mira stiffen, "Why have you come to Korriban?" Have you come for answers? There are none. She has seen to that."

"Kreia?" Ilza knew the old Jedi and the Sith Lord had some connection, but the details were still confusing. "What about her?"

"I know her as an apprentice knows a master. And as a master knows an apprentice."

"Sion, I don't particularly feel like fighting you. Get out of my way." This was getting on Ilza's nerves."

Sion lit his lightsaber. "Pathetic. You are her apprentice in name only. I am the true master."

"Then it seems I have no choice." Ilza's lightsabers flew to her hands, the twin silver blades igniting with an almost comforting hiss. With a defiant expression on her face, she charged.

Sion quickly brought his saber up to parry her right blade, but he was unprepared to block the smaller one, it cut into his side, and the stench of burning skin filled the chamber. If the deformed man was at all hurt, he did not let it show.

It went on like that for a few moments, Ilza and Sion performing what seemed to be a whirlwind of slashes. No matter how many times she hit him(which was quite a few), Sion absolutely refused to go down.

_"Run..."_ She heard Kreia's mind-touch in her head.

_"Are you insane?" _she thought back, _"I'm not afraid of that walking cadaver!"_

_"There will be another time," _Kreia assured her, _"But not here, now, not while Korriban runs through him...run, now!"_

Reluctantly, she deactivated her lightsaber, motioning for Visas and Mira to follow her. Strangely enough, Sion and his assassins did not give chase.

_"Kreia...this had better be worth it..."_


	3. A Hidden Power Part I

_"I sense great power in this tomb. I believe you are strong enough to explore it."_

Visas and Mira made no effort to accompany Ilza as she entered to tomb. She wasn't quite sure what to expect, and there was a sort of ominous dread weighing down on her.

She could not believe her eyes.Tavlon, Cariaga, Xaset, Nisotsa...Malak. And a young woman she vaguely recognized as Bastila Shan.

"The Jedi Council is wise, but they are too slow to act. Are we to just stand by and watch the worlds of the outer rim die?" Malak - _'No! Not Malak'_, she reminded her self, _'Malak is dead' _- The thing that looked like Malak continued.

"We cannot sit idly when millions of innocents need our help. Will you join Revan and I?" Tavlon and Cariaga stepped forward to Malak's side, as they had done more than a decade ago.

_'I remember. This is when I joined them. this is during the Mandalorian Wars.'_

"In the last month alone, the Mandalorians have taken seven systems. Surely you can see what needs to be done." Nisotsa and Xaset left her side and flanked Malak. Only she and Bastila were left.

_'The council advised patience. They were too slow. Something had to be done. So I joined Revan and Malak, without hesitation."_

"It is our duty as Jedi to confront this threat and protect those who need our aid."

Finally, Bastila, too, went to Malak's side.

"Wait a moment!" She finally spoke up, "Bastila didn't come with us to the Wars. She stayed behind, sided with the council."

Malak - The thing with Malak's face simply smiled, "She didn't join us then, that much is true. But eventually, she saw the truth in our way of thinking. So now you are all alone. What will you do? Will you make the same choice again, knowing what it will cost you?"

"I..." _'NO! My resolve will not weaken!' _

"Yes." She spoke after a long while. "I would go with you again."

The thing that was not Malak smiled even wider, and ignited his lightsaber. The others followed.

"So you would condemn yourself and the galaxy once more? Good." And then, they charged.

In a flash, her own sabers were active. She was a flurry of motion, blocking, striking, dodging. But it wasn't enough. There were too many of them. She was on her knees, and she knew it was the end. Malak's spectre raised his lightsaber...

..And there was nothing. The blow never came. Ilza felt the dark side flow through her, as if a gate had been opened. Rising to her feet, shakily, she allowed the force to heal her wounds. She grimly made her way through the arch at the other end of the room, and she knew that there was much more to come.


	4. A Hidden Power Part II

Seeing the Mandalorians die a second time gave Ilza a certain satisfaction. Even charging through the mines, the images of the Republic soldiers fought ferociously.

She was currently hacking her way through seemingly endless numbers of Shyrack. The flying beasts were crazed, as if the energies she had witnessed firsthand inside the tomb had driven them mad. Of course, that was a very real possibility, given what she knew of Korriban.

Beheading the last of the shyrack, she opened the next door, and was greated with one of the last things she had ever seen.

Kreia was standing in the center of the circular room. Her normal brown cloak had been replaced with black, and her skin seemed grayer.

"You have done well. You have faced the images of your past, but now you must face the present."

"What are talking about?" Ilza was very confused, and the old womans crypic words were not helping the matter.

"Don't listen to her!" Out of nowhere, Atton was standing infront of the door leading out of the chamber. "She's a Dark Jedi!"

"Atton, I have had enough of your snide contempt." The lightsaber in Kreia's hand ignited, blue blade illuminating the room. Atton raised his Trandoshan sword in response. "I will defend myself from this ruffian's words!"

"What is going -" Ilza tried to say something, but Bao-Dur(where did he come from?) beat her to it.

"What are you doing, Kreia?"

"Stay out of this, Bao-Dur, this is a personal dispute between Atton and myself!"

"You're threatening Atton with a lightsaber and I'm just to supposed to stay out of it? No!" Bao-Dur's voice was slow and calm, even as he brought up his Ryyk blades.

"You all need to - Oh why do I even bother, they're just illusions anyway."

Kreia, Atton and Bao-Dur turned to her as one.

"So you would stand there and do nothing? Apathy is death!"

Atton glared at her accusingly, "Apathy is death."

Bao-Dur scowled at her with anger "Apathy is death."

"Apathy is death!" Kreia repeated.

Just like that, they turned on her. It was all she could do not to get hit. Needless to say, she failed. Though it was not real, she could feel each of their weapons hit her time after time. And when she knew she could handle no more, they were gone.

The same rush of Dark Side power she felt before came back anew. It was painful, but invigorating all the same.

And just as before, she fought through it, rising to her feet, determined to find a way through the accursed tomb.

She would not die here. Not a chance!


	5. A Hidden Power Part III

Ilza was getting quite irritated by the constant repetition. Shyrack, illusions. Illusions, shyrack. It was grating on her last nerve.

The faint aura of the Dark Side permeated the area around the next door. Readying herself for whatever this tomb was going to throw at her next. It wasn't enough.

"Wah? Re...Revan?" It was true. Standing in front of an ancient Sith coffin, in all her glory, was Darth Revan. She was dressed head-to-toe in the armor she had begun wearing shortly before Malachor. "So this is where the great Revan has hidden herself? Everyone was wondering where you scurried off to." Her voice was thick with venom.

Rather than responding with an equally scathing remark, as she knew the real Revan would, this spectere drew her red and violet lightsabers(Revan had always seemed to prefer red, even as a padawan).

Ilza was determined not to lose to this false Revan, this imitation. Malak and Kreia had taken her by suprise. That would not happen again.

She knew that it must have been her own memories fueling the illusion, because Revan was not nearly as skilled with her swords as Ilza knew she should have been. She battered Revan without mercy, backing her into a corner, and at last, impaling the former dark lord. The image vanished before it hit the floor.

_'Well done.'_

'Kreia..' She thought, 'What was the point of all this?'

_'You may not understand what you have gained here today. That will come later.'_

'I don't care about that now. I just want out of here.' She made sure to direct her impatience through the bond.

_'Search the room you are in. You will be able to unlock a passage out of the tomb.'_

Ilza heeded the woman's advice, opening the coffin, and gazing upon the mummified remains of Ludo Kresh.

"So much for the great Sith Lord," she said airily as she collected the sword and armband from next to the corpse.

Stepping out, back into the shyrack cave, she breathed a sigh of relief. She was still alive, and possibly a little stronger for it. Even if she didn't quite understand what had happened in the tomb, she knew that she had overcome a challenge, and that was something to rellish. All that was left now was to meet the remaining Jedi on Dantooine.

And there, she would finally have her revenge.

**A/N: Come on people, the hit counter shows nearly 200 hits, and only one review? I need those reviews. Gentle encouragment, scathing critisisms, flames to fuel my rage, anything! I am desperate for feedback!**


	6. The Last of the Jedi

Ilza had expected to fight Vrook. Hell, she'd looked forward to it. But she hadn't expected him to initiate the fight. All things considered, it was understandable, but rather un-Jedi nonetheless.

He'd started off with his predictable windbaggery, going on about the dark side, and her corruption, and how he would put a stop to her evil once and for all. Offering her no chance to explain(all well and good, as she would have attacked him anyway), he'd activated his lightsaber and gone on the offensive.

Ilza had been unconcerned. A master he may have been, but he had spent too much time devoting himself to the mysteries of the Force, allowing his physical skills to wilt. The battle was intense, but brief. She was, after all, young and vital, with a powerful connection to the dark side. In no time whatsoever, Vrook was dead, nailed to the wall of the ruined enclave by her silver lightsaber.

"And so, it is over."

Ilza spun around to face Kreia. The old woman was standing in the entrance to the council chamber.

"You have done better than I had hoped. You have conquered the best of the Order, and now you are victorious. But before you celebrate this victory, I must ask you something. I need to know if killing these Jedi had brought you the peace you so desired when I first met you."

Ilza was annoyed. She had just gotten her revenge, and this old woman was spoiling her victory with a bunch of "philosophy."

"And why does it matter so much to you? I would think you'd be happy to see them die."

Kreia sighed, and for just a moment, she looked her age. "Because, these Jedi were arrogant. All I have ever trained have been failures to them, those who fell to the dark side, who left to fight the Mandalorians. Seeing one with the power to best them is something I will never forget.

"But despite that, no, I did not want them to die. I merely wished them to see that they were wrong. That one could not truely understand the Force by rigid adherence to their Jedi code. To defeat one in combat is one thing, but to gain victory without striking a blow, that had been my goal.

"So again, I ask. Did killing these Jedi calm you? I must know, did it bring you any measure of peace?"

Ilza frowned. She'd gotten her vengeance, regained the Force. She was more powerful than she'd ever been. But there was something...

"No." She said resoloutly. "My revenge is not complete yet. Atris still lives."

That, apparently, was the wrong answer. "Then it is as I thought. You have failed me, completely and utterly." Kreia raised her hand, and Ilza suddenly felt the strength leave her body, and she collapsed to the ground. "I taught you to hear the Force again, shown you the contrast.But for all I have taught, you have learned nothing. After all I have said, you never learned to listen."

She began to approach Ilza. "Vrook was right to came here, though he did not realize the connection until too late. These places are a part of you, weak in the force. They are touched by the ravages of war, of suffering.

"Know that for all you have ignored, I have still learned from you. Your actions have crippled the Order. They may have very well led to the death of all Jedi, all Sith, and all who can hear the Force.

She turned, and walked out of the chamber. "Our bond remains, but that is all. Stay here and die, apprentice. It is a fitting grave until the Sith come to end you, to end everything. And perhaps, you will finally see..."

---

Kriea left the council chamber, dejected. Ilza had been a failure, just like the rest. But now that she understood the echoes... There was still hope. Kreia knew what she had to do.

She looked toward the Echani woman blocking her path. It was that same one. Kae's daughter.

"It is done, she is no more. Take me to Atris. She will have the strength to do what the council can not."


	7. Regrouping

She didn't know how long she'd been unconcious, but the angle of the sun filtering through the holes in the ruined ceiling told Ilza that it had been several hours at least.

_'Kriea..'_ She thought spitefully as she recalled what the old woman had left her with, _'What the hell is wrong with her? I still don't understand.'_

She pushed aside her former mentor's words and took stock. Her lightsabers were still there, as was all of her equipment. Her chronometer indicated that it was nearing 18:00. She'd been knocked out for about two hours.

She dusted herself and left the remains of the enclave behind her. Using the Force to enhance her speed, she blew past the salvager camp, and made it to Khoonda in a matter of minutes. The Ebon Hawk was still docked, and she could sense everyone inside. No one was injured, not seriously, at least, so that was probably a good sign.

She entered the ship to find the rest of the crew in the main hold. The Holoprojector had been damaged, and there was carbon scoring on the walls. The people inside didn't look too bad off. Mandalore was making adjustments to his rifle. Bao-Dur was sporting a cast on his right wrist, and was using his meachincal arm to repair some damage to HK-47. Mical was bandaging a a gash on his left leg. On the bench, Atton was clutching what looked like a deep wound from a vibroblade. Mira was not visibly injured, nor was Visas.

"What happened here?"

Mandalore was the first to respond. "The old woman is gone."

"That Echani woman took her. The one from Telos," Atton interjected.

"Ashamed Admission: Master, I could not subdue the white-haired Meatbag. I am sorry." HK obviously couldn't _look _embarassed, but he had assumed a guilty sort of posture that looked very out of place on a droid.

"Terrific," Ilza sighed and put a hand to her forehead. This day was just getting better and better.

"You know what that means," Atton said matter-of-factly, "The Handmaiden will take her to Telos, and Atris will do to her what she does to anyone she thinks is a Sith."

"I know. Frag it all! Kriea and I are linked. If she dies..." She let the rest of the statement hang there menacingly. "We have to go to Telos. Visas, your master is going to attack the planet. Everything is going to be decided there."

Atton gave a mournful moan, "That's what I was afraid you'd say..."

----

**A/N: First off, I'd like to thank all of my wonderful reviewers. You are gods, and if I had a hat, it would be very much tipped to you right now.**


	8. A Death Among The Ice

Mical smiled gleefully as the fifth handmaiden fell to his green lightsaber. His joy at the slaughter was cut off, though, as he felt a surge through the Force. He looked at the closed meditation chamber. He could _feel_ the battle between the two masters, but he was helpless to back Ilza up. The door would not open. He shared a resigned look with Visas and Mira. Whatever happened now was between Ilza and Atris...

----

The holocrons were obviously hoping she'd fail. Oh yes. She could feel them, trying to plant doubt in her mind. But she turned that doubt back towards them, and against Atris.

The older master was definitely stronger for her delving into the forbidden teachings of the Sith. The Dark Side swirled around her like a cyclone, enhancing her every movement. It was beautiful, in a way. Yes, Atris was very strong.

Too bad for her, Ilza was stronger. A hurricane of strikes fell upon Atris, the superior technique of the Jar'Kai form attacking from both sides of the Jedi Master-turned-Sith wannabe. Atris had a hard enough time avoid getting her head cleaved off, never mind actually attacking. It took all the preicision of Soresu's defensive style to keep the silver sabers away from the white haired Jedi.

Still, as had happened with all the rest, Ilza was able to triumph. She caught Atris in an iron Force Grip, squeezing her insides and causing her to collapse, choking and wheezing, to the floor.

"So...i-it is done. What shall you...do now?" The crystal blue eyes did not ask for mercy or pity.

"Tell me where the Sith are striking from." Ilza's voice had gone calm, no trace of the fury of battle left in her.

Atris only gave a derisive snort. "You always knew where they were, you _always_ knew. She has gone there, you know, to that place. I had thought...had thought that she was waiting for me there, but I see now that she lied. Sh-she always meant for you to follow her. And if you don't, she will murder herself at the heart of Malachor, and you with her. So what know? Will you kill me, as I would have killed you?"

Ilza's face softened for a moment as she knelt before Atris' sprawled form. "Oh, Atris..." She gave a sad sigh, which melted into a sadistic grin "Yes." And with that, she ignited her saber, pluging it through Atris's heart. The woman died instantly.

_"Well done."_ Kriea's voice echoed ominously through the chamber.

"What the-? Show yourself old woman!" Ilza said furiously.

_"I am not here. Not in the flesh, and not in your mind. These holocrons are powerful things indeed. But this is no time for questions. One of the Sith Lords has come here to Telos. You must deal with him. After that, you know where you must go. And if you do not, then all will be for nothing, and I will sacrifice myself to keep you in check."_

With that, the presence receeded. The door to the chamber opened. She crossed the catwalk into the council room, which was litered with the bodies of the Echani sisters. Mical, Visas, and Mira were waiting for her there. She passed them wordlessly, not caring to dwell in the academy for longer than she needed to. There was still Nihilus to deal with, and that was the only thing that mattered at the moment.

----

Brianna cried out as she looked at the carnage in the council chamber. Her sisters, all of them...dead.

She hadn't been there. She'd gone to the lower level to check a mechanical failure in the power system when she'd felt it: That sick sense of ominous dread filling her mind.

Abandoning all sense of propriety, she ran toward the open meditation room. She let out a sob as she saw the broken body of her mistress. There was a single hole in her chest, and a trickle of blood coming from her mouth.

It...it couldn't be. No, not Atris. She was a master, nothing could kill her. She was too great. It was...it was impossible.

Brianna stumbled back down the catwalk in horror. She sank to her knees among the bodies of her sisters, and for the first time since the death of her father, she wept. She wept for herself, for Atris, for her sisters. For everything.

_'...It's over. It's all over...'_

**----**

**A/N: Jeez! That was...bad. I gotta tell you, I really hate this chapter. I'm suckage personified when it comes to writing prose. But I did enjoy writing Brianna, and I think I kept her fairly in character. Also, I did major paraphrasing with the dialogue, since I can't remember it verbatim. What do you peeps think?**


	9. A Doomed Hunger

To say that Ilza was suprised to see Tobin on the Ravager was something of an overstatement. After everything that had happened to her in her 35 short years, nothing really suprised her.

To say that she was disappointed when he refused to help and forced her to kill him would have also been something of an overstatement.

"Your urge to kill, to attack that one...I felt it mirrored in myself, "Visas intoned in her soft, almost timid voice, "As if I had no choice."

Ilza rolled her eyes at the introspection. "Don't be stupid!" she snapped, "You always have a choice."

"Perhaps." Visas' musings were getting to be an annoyance.

And so on they went. They made sure to set the proton charges first, since they didn't know what would happen to the Ravager when Nihilus was dead, and they might not have time later. Even the premature detonation of one of the cores was not much of a hinderance, since the ship still had a few active missiles they could use.

Finally, they came to a stop in one of the less ruined corridors. Visas slowly approached a door, as if she was afraid of whatever was inside.

"This door leads to my...cell. I had forgotten."

Ilza sighed in resignation, cutting Visas off before she could say anything more. "Go ahead, just make it quick." When the hell had her companions all become so kriffing sentimental?

----

She sat down in the center of the chamber, assuming a traditional meditative position. Feeling the physical world melt away, Visas opened herself to the Force.

"Past the surface, there is the Force. From the death of an entire world comes great power. Where once there was a world strong in the Force, now there is a barren wasteland..."

It was all around her, the shrieking of her firends and family as they fell to her Lord's dark power. The anguish, the pain of that horrible day filling her senses again. For the second time in her life, she felt Katarr and her people die. And from that pain, she drew her strength now.

"My hands shall be hate. My eyes, revenge. You will be avenged, and the one who has done this shall die."

And with that final promise, the agony of her world's death fell away. She rose, and left her prison for the last time.

"There is nothing more for me here."

----

Visas didn't say anything when she emerged from the cell, but Ilza could sense the calm, the quiet within her. It was cold, like the ice of Rhen Var.

"We should hurry. I sense we do not have much time left." It was all Ilza needed to hear.

----

More than a hundred troopers and a handful of Dark Jedi later, the trio reached the final obstacle.

The Ravager's bridge was large and open, a memory of the grand ships that had populated the Republic's fleet before Revan and Malak had abandoned them. The lower level was filled with the crew at their stations, mindless servants to the Sith Lord's will.

He stood at the very end, gazing out of the vast observation window. Telos was barely visible, obscured by the Republic's task force of _Guardian_-class cruisers, and the smaller but much better equipped Sith battle group, consisting mainly of _Sentinel-_class interdictors. Both fleets were throwing squadrons of fighters at one another, battling for the fate of the the Citadel and Telos itself.

By this point, both Ilza and Mandalore were eager to get this over with. Without further ado, they walked up the bridge. Nihilus turned slowly to face them, his face entirely obscured by the menacing mask he wore. In his hand was a dueling saber, with a curved hilt for better precision.

The sounds that emanated from the Dark Lord could not really be described as 'talking,' but it was enough to get the message across. He ignored Ilza and Mandalore, focusing entirely on his former slave, as if to accuse her of something.

Mandalore was the first to make a move, hoping to finish Nihilus quickly while his attentions were diverted. He raised his heavy repeating rifle, firing a volley at the Sith.

Nihilus ducked out of the way, igniting his red saber and charging Ilza. His bladework was enough to get her attention, with the Makashi's elegant form that was designed for lightsaber duels. His defese was some of the best she had ever seen, since not only did her have Ilza's twin baldes to contend with, but Visas' lightsaber and Mandalore's precise shots as well.

This continued on for some time, and Ilza was begining to tire. Nihilus himself leaped away, hoping to regain some strength.

"It-it's no use. He's too powerful!" Visas moaned. An idea suddenly sprang to Ilza's mind. She spun to face Visas.

"You're his link to this place. Can you disrupt that somehow?"

"I...I will try." Visas began to concentrate, clutching her head as if in pain. Across the bridge, Nihilus did the same, letting out an inhuman shriek. "I cannot...hold him...for long..."

It was enough. Ilza used the force to jump in front of the Sith Lord, slicing off his hand, still clutching his saber. She brought her own sword up, and swung it downward, burying it in Nihilus' back.

The one who had killed countless millions on Katarr and across the galaxy was no more.

Ilza walked back to Mandalore, and motioned for Visas to follow her. But the Miraluka woman did not, instead approaching the body of her former master. Ilza understood what she needed to do.

"Look at him if you need to. Then bring me the mask."

Visas kneeled beside the body, removed the mask, and then stripped away the coverings on his face, His yellow eyes were open in shock, his once handsome face frozen in permanent disbelief.

Gathering the mask, Visas rose, and returned to Ilza. She answered the question before it was asked.

"I saw a man. Nothing more. You are my master now. I will follow you wherever your path takes you. My path is at an end."

Ilza tucked the mask away and turned to leave. "We need to get out of here so we can blow this ship away."

None of them turned to look back, not even as Dark Side energies consumed the empty shell of what was once Darth Nihilus.


	10. The Exile and The Admiral

The TSF officers escorted Ilza into one of the executive modules aboard Citadel Station. These modules were typically reserved for high-level diplomats and ranking members of the Telosian government, but these quarters had been given for use by the Republic Fleet commanders.

Toward the far end of the room, looking out to the planet's surface, was Admiral Carth Onasi. He was tall, with brown hair. He looked to be in his late thirties or early forties. He was dressed in what looked like modified Republic armor.

He turned to face her, a warm smile on her face that Ilza couldn't help but think made him look foolish. She knew better than to judge by looks alone, though.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" He asked her, facing the planet once more. "I couldn't be here to protect her last time. I'm glad I was able to now."

Ilza glared. "Maybe next time you'llget here a little faster," she muttered under her breath.

The admiral apparently heard this, because he seemed to decide to drop the pleasantries. "I'm going to be honest with you, Ms. Rossill. You helped to save Telos, and that is the only reason you haven't been arrested. You instigated and aided the armed overthrow of the Onderonian government. You helpd a usurper take one of the Republic's most important worlds out of the glactic community. My superiors wanted to have you imprisoned and tried for war crimes."

Ilza rolled her eyes at him, not bothering to hide her contempt. "I don't see what the problem is. From what I understand, Vaklu hasn't even begun seccession procceedings, and I know for a fact that he sent soldiers to help protect your precious planet. If I were you, I'd be grateful he hasn't declared war yet."

"Yeah, we'll see about that, won't we?" That's not the point. I brought you here to ask you something. I..." His face softened, and for the briefest of moments she saw right into him, through a sea of grief. "...I need to know if you found any trace of Revan during your exile."

At this, she raised an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with anything?" The images of Revan she had fought on Korriban were fresh in her mind, and she suppressed a shudder.

"I served with Revan, like you did." She noticed his shoulder tense momentarily. "It was toward the end of the Jedi Civil War. We met on a ship called the _Endar Spire_, over the planet Taris..."

----

"...We saved the galaxy, but for Revan, it was like the war never ended. She kept remembering things, things she'd done during both of the wars. The Jedi Council tried to help her reconcile her real memories with the false ones they put in her, but even then she was...different. The tiniest things would set her off. And then a year later, she left altogether. I think she remembered something big, something she did, and she went to stop it. We haven't heard from her since. The only thing she'd say was to ask me to protect the Republic, to keep it strong."

Ilza had listend impassively to his entire story. It explained a lot. She hadn't understood, what master Ell had said before, about redemption not being Revan's choice, but it made sense now.

"That's...quite a tale. It explains a lot of what I've seen since I've been back. You said that the only tace of her you found was in Mandalorian space?"

"Yes," he said sadly, "She switched ships there. After that, the trail went cold."

_'Hm, this is interesting. That's quite close to Malachor...'_

"I already know about your ship. Wherever it's been, so has she."

"The _Ebon Hawk?_ That would explain why the navicomputer was voice-locked."

Carth gave a grim smile. "Yes, that sounds like something she'd do. Listen, I don't know where you're going, but all I ask is that if you find Revan, please tell her that Admiral Onasi is following orders."

Ilza frowned. This man, she felt a connection to him. It was like he knew waht it was to lose everything. Something inside her wanted to help him, even though the rest of her was screaming at her to tell him to shove it.

"If I find her...I'll give her the message." With that, she spun on her heel, and made to leave, but he spoke up once more.

"This time...you gave me a second chance. Thank you."

She paused for a moment, but did not turn around. A second later, she left the room silently.

----

Carh sighed as she left the room.

"You should not have let her leave."

He didn't bother to turn and face Bastila. "You may be right about that. But still, I can't help thinking that she's out best hope of finding Revan. Even if she's dark, she's got the best chance."

Bastila slumped into a chair tiredly. "I know you miss her Carth. I do too, but I do not trust that woman. She has felt the call of the dark side, and she had heard the teachings of the Sith."

"So did you, once," he reminded her gently. She stiffened in her seat, her short tenure as Malak's apprentice still a sore subject.

"That was different, Carth. I had people to help me back. I fear that is not the case for the Exile..."

-----

**A/N: Holy crap! Ten chapters! This is like a milestone for me. For all of us here at FREAKSHOW actually. I wish the others were here to see this. **


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